Refugee Status for Females at Risk of FGM and Parents Opposed to it in The Gambia
by Iulia Mirzac
Question(s) at stake
1. Whether intact females in The Gambia face a real risk of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) and whether internal relocation is available to them. 2. Whether parental opposition to FGM is sufficient to prevent a female from The Gambia from being subjected to FGM when the extended family practices it.
Outcome of the ruling
Although women in Gambia are not at a real risk of FGM, assessing the risk of FGM is a “fact-sensitive exercise” (para 122). Factors affecting the risk include (1) the female’s ethnic background, (2) the prevalence of FGM, intermarriage, and polygamy in the ethnic group of her parents or her husband, (3) the wider family’s attitudes towards FGM, and (4) the socio-economic milieu of the female, such as her age, education, and marital status. When it is established that a person is at a real risk of FGM in her home community, internal relocation is unlikely to be a safe and viable option for her. In light of the Country Guidance (CG), the appeals were allowed. Both Miss K and AS are at a real risk of FGM upon return to The Gambia. Should they refuse to undergo the practice, no sufficiency of protection nor internal relocation would be available to them and their families.
Country:
Official citation
K and Others (FGM) The Gambia CG [2013] UKUT 00062
Topic(s)
Keywords:
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) Gender based persecution Grounds/Reasons of persecution Membership of a particular social group Real Risk of persecution Refugee status
Tag(s):
Ethnic groups Harmful traditional practices
Bibliographic information
Access case report
View case report in the CUREDI databaseAbout the authors
Iulia Mirzac (Birmingham Law School, University of Birmingham)
Doctoral Candidate at the University of Birmingham carrying out ESRC-funded research on judicial interpretations of undefined concepts within the UK anti-trafficking framework in England and Wales. Teaching Associate on the 'Decolonising Legal Methods' module at Birmingham Law School. Research Consultant at the Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, providing legal commentaries of asylum decisions based on gender-based violence published under the Institute's CUREDI database.